When Virginia Tech beats North Carolina in football – which they’ve now done 14 of 18 times since joining the ACC – I always like to say that my only regret is that the Hokies didn’t win by more points.  However, there’s something to be said for close wins, too, because they can be more heartbreaking for the losing team than a 30-point thumping.  They can also help the winning team learn to deal with adversity, which VT certainly did a good job of Friday night.

Tech had opportunities to put the game away early.  The Hokies left anywhere from 6-10 points on the board thanks to a Keshawn King fumble and a missed short field goal.  UNC quarterback Sam Howell had a couple of fumbles in Tar Heel territory, one of which bounced out of bounds and the other which sort of bounced right back to Howell as he was being sacked.  If one or both of those fumbles had bounced the Hokies’ way, they really would have had a chance to pour it on.  Tech also very nearly blocked a punt, as you can see from the picture below.  Did that just go through Stroman’s arms?  The picture sure makes it look that way.

None of those things happened, though, and Tech had to sweat out a win late in the fourth quarter.  In the grand scheme of things, I’m not so sure that wasn’t for the best. 

From a pure emotional standpoint, breaking UNC’s hearts at the end of the game was pretty fun, though blowing the Tar Heels out would have been fun, too.  From a pure football perspective, it gave the Tech defense an opportunity to show that it can respond to adversity and that it can come up with big plays when needed against a talented quarterback.  That’s exactly what the defense did, and it should prove to be a confidence-booster for that unit that was much-maligned last season.

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